PJ Harvey becomes first artist to win Mercury prize twice

Brit artist PJ Harvey remembers the events of 9/11 in her acceptance speech as
she collects the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for the second time.

8:09AM BST 07 Sep 2011

Singer-songwriter PJ Harveywon the 2011 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for best album for Let England Shake, which was partly inspired by her reaction to the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq

Harvey, who also won in 2001 with Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, beat 11 other nominees including Adele and another previous winner Elbow.

The London-based singer has been championed by producer Brian Eno and praised for her dark, passionate on-stage style and the 41-year-old had long been the bookmakers' favourite to scoop the annual award.

The Mercury Prize, which has gone to a wide range of musical genres since it began in 1992, honours music by British or Irish artists and is based solely on the music on the album.

The prize - won last year by The XX - is held in high esteem within the industry, but more importantly it can boost sales of nominees and winners.